2010 Q3 Contest

Reflections

Judges Comments

I love that you first see everyone taking pictures or looking at the back of the camera and after studying the image you see the reflection of the bride and groom kissing. Very nicely done.

If you look very closely you will see there are three levels to this photograph. The bride and groom kissing in the mirror, the line of attendees taking photographs and behind them another couple kissing! Nice moment layering the image and also capturing the emotion.

What an incredible image. It could have held its own in almost any category but it reigns here without doubt. Everything works. And don't you love that as the mirror in the foreground reflects a kiss between a bride and groom, another kiss is occurring in the background? That's a detail you wouldn't expect. It would have been a winner without that background kiss but everything added together makes this photo stand alone.

Judges Comments

Judges Comments

Light, color and magnificent beauty! It’s all there in this elegant frame of a couple dancing with the added element of the bride's face beautifully lit in the mirror reflection. A glamorous photograph that I’m sure they will treasure forever.

I can't imagine a moment when a mirror creates a more perfect additive to a moment, revealing the bride's face as she spins in dance beneath the gaze of a watchful painting. A high compliment among photojournalists was, "I wish I had shot that." This image meets the "qualifications."

Judges Comments

Photographer did a great job capturing the fancy footwork of these dancers and their reflection. I would have cropped out the guy in the background in the upper right corner and it would have added a stronger symmetry to the image.

Reflections can become a gimmicky effort to do something "different." They generally delight clients but I personally believe few rise beyond that. Interestingly, this category produced images of genuine merit. I really liked this image, not because of the reflection but because it is a real moment of playful joy. Furthermore the photographer included enough elements (particularly the smiling face of the man at center) combined with good composition to make it an image that would likely stand alone sans reflection.

Photographer's Comment

Judges Comments

Another well composed image which uses reflection as an integral part of the composition. I might suggest a crop down from the top as I don't think the upper part of the image is needed and competes with the bottom.

Judges Comments

This photograph has a very sexy mysterious feeling. It’s a very different way of seeing but the elements work with the framing of the face that obscures the head on the women in the background. The photograph asks questions and that’s an interesting element that we don’t often see.

Nice seeing as well. Composition makes it way more than a wedding photo.

Judges Comments

Judges Comments

Here's a first. I've judged tens of thousands of top level wedding photos from some of the best photographers on the planet but I can't remember ever seeing this scene. But, the onus is on the moment. Thus, not only is this photo unique (at least to my experience) it also includes the bride and groom. Mostly I like the "seeing" of this scene combined with its wonderful execution by the photographer.

Judges Comments

Very clean and simple but the image works very well.

Photographer's Comment

It was a quiet moment in the beginning of the day at the bride's home. You could feel the comfort and intimacy in the air. There was this mirror on the floor, one that was probably meant to be hung a while ago but they never got around to doing it. Instead, it became a perfect frame to take photos of her getting ready. The big window to the left and the colors of the wall and floor make this image one of my favorite.

Judges Comments

Interesting juxtaposition of images in this photograph that reflects the bride greeting someone as another takes a photograph and others watch very seriously in the background. I like the framing but I would have come down a bit on the top of this image because my eye wants to escape the frame upward. Cropping it a bit tighter would add to the graphic design of the image.

Judges Comments

Photographer's Comment

I had kind of planned for this shot to happen. It was a gorgeous, sunny day which is not all that common in the UK so I wanted to make the most of the gifts this light was going to bring. Car exits and entrances are not always that graceful, so when I saw the bride and groom having a little toast I walked right up to the window, using my body to block some of reflection so I'd have a clear shot inside. The groomsmen outside support the scene.

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